An old marketing technique (read propaganda trick) is to create a source to cite material you want people to believe without question.
For some reason, if people hear or read something, and it is cited or referenced to another source (even if they never heard of that source) they will believe it without questioning.
This method has been done with organizations also.
Most of these groups that award each other to lend credibility are made up of the same Mo Larry and Curlys.
"I was completely disgusted when I heard that Carter had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize"
Nobel Prize - that always had such an honorable and exalted sound. How honorable or exalted is it now, after it was awarded to Jimmy Carter and Yassir Arafat?
It's now a sheet of rubbish, unsuitable for wrapping fish.